Manila: The future looks bright for Ludwig Hans Carizo, one of the country's promising figure skaters. After a podium finish at the Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy early this month, he was chosen to represent the country in the 2025 Olympic Council of Asia - International Skating Union - Children of Asia International Committee Asian Figure Skating Youth Camp held in Harbin, China from Aug. 10 to 18.
According to Philippines News Agency, Carizo expressed his excitement and gratitude for the opportunity to represent the Philippines in the prestigious camp. "I'm very happy and grateful because it's a very rare opportunity," the 13-year-old said in an interview. Carizo was joined by fellow skater Dawn Jasmine Gothong, and they were accompanied by Philippine Skating Union (PSU) technical committee chairperson, coach Franklin Masayon.
The camp highlighted Carizo's talents, with the Olympic Council of Asia recognizing him as a Filipino prodigy in skating. Carizo, who started skating in 2019 and became serious about the sport in 2022, looks up to notable skaters like compatriot Michael Martinez, Japanese gold medalist Hanyu Yuzuru, and American champions Ilia Malinin and Jason Brown.
In the Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy held at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City from Aug. 1-5, Carizo scored 37.61 points, securing a silver medal in the boys' intermediate novice category. He finished second to Chinese Taipei's Juan Wei Te, who scored 48.22 points. Australian Dong Jason Jiesen claimed the bronze with 36.97 points. The tournament was organized by the PSU under the leadership of Nikki Cheng.
Cerizo, a Grade 8 student at California Academy in Antipolo City, expressed pride in his performance, especially considering the limited practice time he had before the event. The Philippines also celebrated a bronze medal win by Isabella Gamez and Aleksandr Korovin in the senior pairs category with a score of 143.49 points.
The competition saw strong performances from various countries. China's Jianxuan Zhang and Yihang Huang captured the gold in the senior pairs, and South Korea's Hyungyeom Kim dominated the senior men's division. In the women's division, China swept the medals with Ruiyang Zhang, Yi Zhu, and Wandi Xu taking gold, silver, and bronze, respectively.
Other gold medalists included Hong Kong's Zihao Harvey Zhou (boys' advanced novice), China's Yuxuan Liu (girls' advanced novice), Malaysia's Esther Yi Xuan Chong (girls' intermediate novice), and Chinese Taipei's Wei-Ran Lin (boys' basic novice) and Lilia Ya Ti Lin (girls' basic novice).
